Wesa hat trick keys Jet rally over Cheboygan

SAULT STE. MARIE – You can’t keep Travis Wesa off the scoresheet for an entire weekend.

One day after Wesa was blanked for just the second time this season, he scored a hat trick and the winning goal in Jeffers’ 6-3 come-from-behind win over Cheboygan at the Bud Cooper Classic.

The Jets trailed 3-2 after a Parker Beauchamp goal at the 4:03 mark of the third period before they scored four straight goals to finish off the Chiefs.

“This is when you find out what you’re made of,” Jets coach David Bekkala said. “I’m glad that they decided to step up and dictate the game instead of hoping to win.”

Wesa’s game-winning goal came at the 6:32 mark right off a faceoff. Tyler Bailey had an unassisted goal less than a minute later, and Ross Michaels scored the game-clincher with 1:38 remaining.

“They picked it up at the end, and that’s exactly what we needed to happen,” Bekkala said. “We learned that we can play a full 51 minutes of hockey, and we learned that if you take a couple of minutes – heck, a couple of seconds – your going to get burned.”

Wesa gave the Jets a 1-0 lead in the first and Josh Stempky tied the game entering the third. Wesa scored 36 into the third before the Chiefs tied it 25 seconds later.